Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The birthday celebration for my wife continues into the night.This dinner held at the Ducking Restaurant in Jaya One Petaling Jaya was organized by my children. Ducking is a restaurant with a lots of Indonesian influence in their dishes i.e.hot and spicy.Their signature dish are duck, done in many styles. Duck dishes are the most ordered, you see it on every table. Their menu are very informative with prices for the various dishes in sizes-i.e.S, M or l. As we wanted to sample more of their dishes , we ordered the dishes in various sizes and it was a helluva of a gastronomic feast! For patrons of food outlets, their cars are allowed to be park at this floor if not you can park at the basement car park for free after 6 p.m.

My wife is a end of the year child, that's why she is always teased by her friends who were born earlier in the same year. Anyway, today is her birthday and she was treated to lunch by my sister in law Hannah atPenang Village. a modern contemporary restaurant located at the newly opened Tropicana City Mall in PetalingJaya.A place with friends and family in a hospitable atmosphere. The restaurant tag line "The Malaysians Best Choice" is just the right word to describe them. For their soft opening, there is a 20% discount for food bill of rm80/ and above. The food served were pleasing to our eyes and tasty to our palates but their waiters was incommunicable!(language problems). Parking is free for the time being.

This section is cosy with soft pink lighting and red long leather chairs while the adjacent side is brightly lit.

My Golden fruit tree bears fruits again. I found out that it's actual name is called the BirdnestFruit (Abiu). The fruit is sweet in taste and is smooth and jelly like in texture. Not widely available in the market, I got the seedlings from an orchard in Cameron Highlands and planted it in my backyard. This is the fruit of my labour!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

My children loves to eat Char Siew (roast pork belly) so my wife cooks it at least once a month.The ingredients are:One kg of pork belly cut into 4 chunks of about 1 inch thick.Marinate with :One whole garlic-finely chopped.Light soy sauce-5 tbspDark soy sauce-1 tbspCastor sugar-3 tbspA few dash of ground pepper and some 5 Spices powder- for about an hour

Heat up wok with some cooking oil-Under low flame, fry marinated pork belly on both sides until fragrant. Cover it with a lid and let it cook and simmer for about 35 minutes. Add some water every now and then to prevent the gravy from thickening too much. Dish up and cut in bite size to serve.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Restaurant Tuck Cheong is located off Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. just behind the Maybank. I was there to meet a friend for "Yum Cha". They specialized in traditional and hand made Dim Sum and pao, very authentic. They have many varieties of Dim Sum and open as early as 5.30 a.m. When we reached there at 7.15 a.m. it was already packed with people. Almost everything is self service, no choice of selecting tea leaves (only one type), it's all hot and ready in mini kettles, placed on a table. Just pick one with cups and go to your table. Most tables are shared with other customers. Next go the hot steamer at the shop front tell the guy what you want and he picks and places it on a plate for you. Just shout and call him when you want to pay-very simple and trusting style.

Packed with people of all ages.

The main guy manning and dispensing the Dim Sum.

Prawn rolls with fish paste-succulent and springy.

Braised mushroom with fish paste and ginger juice-smooth and moist.

Steamed chicken rice-well marinated, tender and full of Chinese wine flavor-only available on Thursday and Saturday-my favorite.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas is derived from the word "Christ's Mass" and Christmas Day is mostly celebrated by Christians. Christmas day falls on the 25th of December every year. It is to honour the birth of Jesus of Nazareth-(Matthew:1:18). The main activity are giving of gifts, church celebrations, decoration of Christmas tree with lights, mistletoe, nativity, turkey dinner and good old Santa Claus!. Christmas has become too commercialize and is a major event for many retailers in shopping malls. Tonight i celebrated Christmas and had dinner at my brother's house. Overall the food was good and my two young nephews had a field time opening their presents.

The brightly decorated Christmas tree.

The nativity was very creatively done.

Appetizer-crab stick sushi with avocado.

Minestrone soup-full of vegetables and gammon - warm and tasty-elegant in flavor.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Restaurant Green View was always packed whenever we drive passed it, on our way to the SS2 area. It is located next to Menara Merias in Section 19, Petaling Jaya. Every now and then they have promotion on their crab dishes. I like their signature dish -fried big river prawns (udang galah) mein, cooked in thick egg gravies and their sweet and sour XL crabs. This place is opens 365 days and service is fast and efficient. Parking is not too much of a problem. Tonight my nephew and his wife joined us for dinner there.